Sunday, October 24, 2010

'Superman: The Movie' Villain Line-Up...

On December 10th, 1978 Warner Brothers released the very first big screen adaptation of Superman. Starring Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent/Superman, the film opened a door the comic medium had previously been unable to breach. In later years, not only would there be three more Superman movies but Batman would also follow close on his heels into his own film series. With the recent up-tick in Superhero movies over the past 10 years or so we’ve seen countless superheros brought to life on the big screen. We’ve seen Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron-Man, Superman, Batman, Ghost Rider, The Fantastic Four and the X-Men. In the next few years we should expect to see even more with Thor, Captain America, Green Lantern, The Flash, a Spider-Man reboot, X-Men First Class and even an Avengers movie. But somewhere in the midst of the superhero movie flood waters, we will see yet another Superman movie.

By now you SHOULD have read my earlier blog regarding my picks for the villains in the next Batman movie. (Read it HERE) While this recent reboot of the Batman movie franchise has proven to be a tour de force for DC Entertainment, they’re looking to bring the man who started it all back to the big screen. Superman has proven to be one of the most recognizable characters on the planet. His symbol has appeared on just about anything you can name. But despite all of the marketing and no matter HOW good the comic plots may be, there has NEVER been someone who has embodied what Superman stands for more than Christopher Reeve himself. After his accident in 1995 he refused to give up and, as a result, started The Christopher Reeve Foundation. As of early 2006, the Foundation has awarded more than $64 million in research grants and more than $8 million in quality-of-life grants. (According to online stats) Christopher Reeve was the symbol of everything Superman stood for and what he brought to the character himself in his acting role has endured.

References and homage’s to the original Christopher Reeve adaptation of Superman have appeared in almost every comic medium since. Some comic artists have made sure to use Reeve as their model when drawing the Big Blue Boy Scout. Comic writers have also taken lines from the movies and inserted them into their own story lines as a subtle nod to the iconic film. Before his death, the T.V. series 'Smallville' hired Reeve in a supporting character role in seasons 2-4 to help Clark begin to discover more about his Kryptonian roots. 'Superman Returns' supposedly takes place after 'Superman II' and even uses a famous line or two from the original movies, “I hope this experience hasn’t put any of you off flying. Statistically speaking, it’s still the safest way to travel.” While I have not seen any episodes from the 'Adventures of Lois & Clark' T.V. series, I’ve been told there have been more than a few respectful references to the Christopher Reeve Superman.

I say all of this to bring you this piece of disturbing news regarding the plans for the upcoming Superman movie,

“As I have already explained, the film will focus on the early days of Superman, so there will be no links to the other movies. This is not a remake then. Similarly, although I still can not talk about the script, I can assure you that this new Superman will not be based on any particular comic book story.” –Zack Snyder (Director of the next Superman movie)

While my initial reaction to this news was one of profound fury, I’ve since given it some thought. ‘The Adventures of Lois & Clark’, ‘Smallville’ and even the comics themselves are all separate entities. Though each has managed to pay tribute in their respective ways to Christopher Reeve, they stand on their own legs in their respective mediums. The story is different and the character developments take a different route. We shouldn’t expect this new Superman movie to adhere to the guidelines laid down by the first movie series. I must admit that if this new movie doesn’t make a subtle nod or two to the original, I will be quite upset.

That being said I DO have some ideas and reasoning as to who (or WHAT) should be the next major foe in this Superman movie. I’ve thought these choices through very carefully and have decided to not just assume that what Zack Snyder said is for SURE what is going to happen. Fan reaction to the idea of starting the Superman movie from scratch was initially negative (mostly for the reasons I stated above) and it’s possible the script could change. A prime example of this is the Green Lantern movie. It was first going to be a comedy spoof featuring Jack Black. Fan’s reacted so negatively towards this idea that now, in 2011, we’ll see a faithful live-action movie featuring Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan.

Bearing in mind that the script MIGHT change down the line, here are my villain choices for the next Superman movie…

Come on. He's Supermans ultimate foe. The billionaire baldy with a grudge against the Man of Steel. There's so many ways you can go with this madman it's... well... maddening. He could work in the film if it's a complete reboot. He could work in the film if it's a continuation. He just WORKS. Brain VS. Brawn. And if they decide to pick him to be in the movie, PLEASE let Kevin Spacey play him again. That was sheer awesome sauce...

Created on Krypton long before it exploded, Doomsday is the ideal warrior. Well, he's more like the ideal mindless killing machine. If you wanted to win a war, all you'd have to do is let him loose in the middle of enemy territory and all would be wiped out in a matter of days. He's the ONLY villain to have ever KILLED Superman.

While Doomsday makes a GREAT visual for audiences, he's not the perfect pick for a complete reboot and for obvious reasons. You can't just KILL Superman in the first movie. But if they allowed for the previous movies... this would be phenomenal. Could you imagine the visual of Doomsday leaping into the sky and falling to the ground in front of Superman? He raises his head and we see that he towers over Superman. As Superman stands bewildered, Doomsday delivers a punch that could crush mountains into sand.

In addition to being an emotionally and visually awesome villain choice, Doomsday also works because of his ties to Krypton. Because Superman himself is from another planet, we can allow for the villains in this film to be more 'comic book-like' than those villains featured in the Batman movies.

John Corben, the man with the Kryptonite heart. While his back story states that he was created by a scientist who was 'obsessed with the idea that Superman was the first of an invading alien army', you could easily say that LexLuthor had a hand in creating him. (for the purposes of the movie)

Corben makes an interesting choice for one other reason. Superman MIGHT not win this one. Not only can he not get close to Corben, but Corben's HEART is pure kryptonite. In order to take Metallo down he'd have to rid himself of the kryptonite first which means killing Corben...and Superman just doesn't do that.

As I stated earlier, Superman is an alien and therefore you can logically use aliens as a threat in the storyline. VrilDox from the planet Colu became obsessed with knowledge. His obsession became so viral that he resorted to shrinking and capturing entire alien cities. Once he captured a city, he then destroyed the planet it came from so no other being but him could possess their unique knowledge. He is also tied to Krypton in this way. He captured the lunar colony of Kandor before destroying Krypton's moon. (Some stories say he also destroyed Krypton itself)

If LexLuthor and Superman are a prime example of brain vs brawn, Brainiac by comparison seems like a GOD next to Lex. Brainiac is arguably the smartest being in the DC Universe in his timeline.

1 comment:

Thoughts on the villains, I'd be fine with no Lex in this one. Too much Lex already. Doomsday has a good story in him. Mongul is a great one as well. Another super powered alien that is used to never losing. He beats Supes initially and that just makes it sweeter when Superman comes back and rallies later in the movie.

And a tip, when you have a blog like this, people just want to shoot to the list part. So make the beginning shorter, get to the list quicker.

About Me

There comes a time in your life when the things you've been taught to believe and hold close to your heart, need to be broken into many parts and examined. Your faith life morphs from what you were raised in and becomes your personal faith system through the various events in your life. Your individual personality becomes molded into the person you will be for the remainder of your life.
I am in this stage.
-Cage-